


Space Acoustic

by WindyWordz



Series: This is Gospel [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Fluff, Happy Ending, I actually panic when they're sad endings, I always tend to gloss over that kind of thing, I always try to end these with a happy ending, I tried to make this as cute as possible though, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance accidentally finds out about not one but two of Keith's special talents, Lance falls hard man, Langst, M/M, Result: he swoons, THIS IS SELF-INDULGENT, best motivation imo, but yeah that's like my only motivation for writing anything is because I want it for myself, canonverse, graphic depictions of blood/injury, he swoons hard okay, it's pretty gay tbh, klance, like really hard, there's some angst in there but wowie i'm sure that surprises like two people maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-08-20 12:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8249260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindyWordz/pseuds/WindyWordz
Summary: Virtuoso (noun):someone who is very good at a particular activity, particularly playing a musical instrumentKeith spends an awful lot of time by himself, which surprises no one. What does surprise them is that he's not using that alone time to train anymore.





	1. The Blur of the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Keith gets a guitar-like instrument from an interstellar trading post planet and puts it to private use. Lance finds out. Then everyone else finds out. Gay things ensue.
> 
> If you want to tag/show me in anything relating to this story, my tumblr is windywordz.tumblr.com
> 
> 10/12 UPDATE: I split this really long one-shot into five smaller chapters. It was just bothering me.

Lance is the first to discover Keith's little secret. Completely on accident, of course, he swears.

It's late, and Lance is restless and edgy from another nightmare, unable to remember the exact details when he tumbled out of his bed in a tangle of fabric and sweaty limbs. He was already out the door and striding down the hallway, jacket hastily thrown on, because the hallways were always cooler than the rest of the ship, almost frigidly so. He didn't know where he was headed, couldn't really pick a destination, when all he could focus on was how he could feel his pulse in his skin and how his heart beat thunderously. Maybe the training deck to see if Keith was there and wanted to spar. Maybe the control room to look back at the sparkling miniature earth again. Maybe towards the sound of a guitar coming from the observation deck.

Wait.

Lance paused when he reached the lounge, tilting his head as the sound came off a little stronger now. It was definitely the sound of a guitar; Lance would know it anywhere with how many people in his family played the damn instrument. But what was really confusing him was that it was here, on a giant Altean ship, so many light-years from earth you couldn't even see it in the sky. It sounded soft and calming, like the musician behind it was just testing chords and tuning notes to make sure it was right.

It was definitely coming from the observation deck; Lance could hear it through the vents that connected there. He wandered down the hall, thankful he'd left his loud shoes in his room, leaving his bare feet to patter over the cold linoleum floor quietly. The sound was inconsistent and scattered, but sometimes there was a string of chords that sounded like scales, and Lance had to bite back the urge to dash towards the sound. He was outside the observation deck door, hand hovering over the panel that opened it when he heard a much, much different sound.

It was a voice, deep and thrumming, like a rainless thundercloud in the distance. It was a soft rumble that rolled over Lance like the wind of an oncoming storm, and it set shivers racing over his spine even as the words were peaceful and maybe a little sad.

" _I stare at my reflection in the mirror,_ " the voice hums, an almost breathlessness to the words as they curl through the air. " _Why am I doin' this to myself?_ "

Lance couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He recognized Keith's voice in a second, the actual realization piercing him in the chest, as if the other had shoved his bayard under his sternum. He was frozen, any and all movement constricted by that voice wrapping around him and squeezing.

 _"I'm losin' my mind over a tiny error,"_ Keith continued, strumming strong and consistent, like he'd been doing this his whole life. And maybe he had. Lance realized he never actually knew much about the other paladin, other than that he'd been a prodigy at flying and been kicked out of the Garrison for being unable to follow orders. That he'd come off as a broody asshole with a stick up his butt, easily falling to Lance's attempts at getting a rise out of him. " _I nearly left the real me in the desert._ "

Lance recognized the song, noted the few minor word changes the other had done, and something about that made the song seem sadder than its original. It reached in between his lungs like tendrils and wrapped around his heart, constricting it with a sharp ache that Lance recognized all too easily.

" _Don't lose who you are in the blur of a star. Seein' is deceivin', dreamin' is believin', but is it okay not to be okay?"_

Lance was barely able to move so his back was against the wall, sliding down it to curl in on himself and draw his knees to his chest. He could feel an angry heat washing over his eyes and he buried his face in his arms, flicking his hood up as he often did when he was upset. He hadn't been expecting this. He wasn't prepared for all of the emotions he was hearing and feeling, especially after the fear and panic he'd woken into.

" _Sometimes it's hard to follow your heart, and tears could mean you're losin', everybody's bruisin'... just be true to who you are._ "

The lyrics made Lance think about the rest of the team and how close everyone seemed to be now that they were reunited from the wormhole incident. How everyone was honest and friendly, how they all cared about each other instead of just being able to form Voltron. It made him think about how he was out here in the vastness of space, so far away his home where children laughed and mothers yelled and siblings squabbled. He missed the homemade meals and boisterous conversation and the almost obnoxiously loud music filling the rare moment of silence. He missed home.

Lance wasn't sure how long he stayed there, listening to Keith sing and play whatever it was that sounded so achingly like a guitar. He had been dead silent the entire time, face hidden in the fabric covering his arms in an attempt to stay the tears building up. He'd failed, of course. He always did have kind of leaky eyes in emotionally intense situations, which he cursed under his breath as he rubbed his face further into the sleeves.

He'd fallen into bittersweet memories of home, under the spell of Keith's voice, and his fingers strumming chords, until Lance could no longer hear either of them over the cacophony of thoughts in his head. He didn't even notice when Keith fell silent and opened the door, his eyes falling to Lance's curled-up figure as his own body went rigid. The hand curled around one end of the instrument he's been playing tightened.

"Lance?" He said after a moment, quiet and confused, tinged with the sort of anger he gets when he's embarrassed or scared. But Lance doesn't move, and in the starlight streaming from inside the observation deck behind Keith, the dark-haired boy can see the other trembling ever so slightly. He's wearing his normal jacket over whatever constitutes as pajamas, and he's bare-foot. Keith waits another moment before taking a breath and moving forward to kneel next to the other, one hand tentatively resting on his shoulder, as if unsure if he should actually touch him.

"Lance," he said, less angry and more with a soft sternness. 

The tan boy lifted his head a bit and blinked, adjusting to the light. Keith could see the red ringing his eyelids, the exhaustion in his glassy gaze, and a spark of worry in his chest overrode the embarrassment and anger upon being eavesdropped on. Lance looked over to the hand on his shoulder, then up at its owner, blinking once. Keith could pinpoint the exact moment Lance processed the situation because his eyes went big and he was suddenly stumbling upwards, almost tripping as he went.

" _Ay dios mios,_ Keith, shit, _lo siento, lo siento_ ," Lance stuttered, catching himself on the wall as Keith stood up, crossing his arms.

Lance's broken Spanish usually irritated him, because he couldn't understand most of it, but Keith had been around the other enough to recognize the words as a fumbled apology.

"What were you doing out here?" He asked, calm and relaxed. He'd already gotten over the fact that Lance had been eavesdropping, if only for the state the other had been in during it.

"I was, uh," the epitome of articulate, Lance McClain, right here everybody, "sleep-walking, yup. That is the thing I was doing."

Keith quirked a brow, "And I suppose sleep-walking includes sitting huddled on the floor while eavesdropping on other people?"

At that, Lance flushes with a sort of embarrassment that Keith usually can't pull out of him, and it catches him a bit off guard. "W-Well how would you know! Do you even know what sleeping is? Maybe I'm just an active sleep-walker."

Keith rolls his eyes, leaning down to pick up the alien instrument he's made into a guitar-substitute. "Well, I'm usually the one who's up the most and I've never seen you walking around without your mouth running, so if you want me to be honest, I don't believe you."

Lance's eyes drifted to the instrument and then back to Keith's face, who gave him a questioning look as the blue paladin looked away. "I should just, uh, get back to my room." He turned on his heel and started back down the hallway, calling a soft "Sorry for bothering you," over his shoulder. Keith watches him for a moment, as if debating on whether to follow, before he shakes his head and turns the other way, his boots echoing softly against the metallic walls.


	2. This Is The Start (of Something New)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance catches Keith playing again, this time with Hunk as a witness.

The next time Lance catches Keith during one of his little music sessions, he's not alone.

It's almost a week after the incident and neither Lance nor Keith had mentioned it. Lance is sitting in the lounge with Hunk, relaxed into the couch with a leg crossed over his knee and shoulders rolled back, listening to his friend go on about some engineer mumbo jumbo he's been working on with Pidge when he hears a sort of low-frequency sound in the back of his range of hearing. He turns his head and it disappears, so he shrugs and goes back to listening to Hunk, only to hear it again a moment later.

"Uh, Lance?" Hunk says when he notices his friend losing focus on him, but the brunet puts up a finger to shush him.

"Quiet. Do you hear that?" He's looking around for the source, almost as if he can actually find it with his eyes.

Hunk is giving him a confused look, "Ummm, hear what, exact-" He's cut off by Lance, who stands up abruptly.

"There it is again!" Lance turns his head to the vent by the far exit, jumping out of the pit and taking a few steps towards it before he turns back to Hunk. "Hunk, where does this vent lead?"

Hunk's eyebrows are raised and he stands as well, coming to stand by his friend as he answers, "Uh, I'm gunna say the observatory, I think? It _is_ out this door and down the hall." That's all Lance needs to hear before he's swiping a hand over the panel and striding out the door, Hunk quick on his heels calling out to the other's back, "Hey, Lance, wait! Where are you going?"

"To the source of the noise, now shut your quiznak!" Lance hisses back, and Hunk gives him a disgruntled look before rolling his eyes.

"Man, I thought we all agreed that you couldn't use that word that way." Lance doesn't answer, too focused on tracking the sound, but it's not long before his friend can hear it too. Then they're both silent and focused. Hunk's surprised when he finally realizes it's almost a guitar, even if the sound isn't ringing in his ears quite the same way.

"Lance, what is that?" He asks when they're almost to the observation door, which is closed but the sound from the other side is almost pouring out the cracks. Long steady notes and chords threaded together like the fibers of silk. And the voice that joins in a few ticks later makes Lance want to melt into the floor from the warm ball of heat that flares up in his stomach by it.

" _This is the start of something beautiful,_ " the voice sings, breathy and sweet, and it makes Lance's chest ache like he just got kneed in the sternum. " _This is the start of something new."_

Lance takes a breath, holds it, and whispers out a hushed word to answer Hunk's question. "Keith." Hunk's mouth is formed in a small 'o' and he and Lance lean against the wall by the door, listening to the rich emotion laced with each word, strummed in each chord.

" _You are the one to make me lose it all._

_You are the start of something new._

_Oh..._

_And I'll throw it all away_

_To watch you fall into my arms again"_

Hunk is completely at a loss for words, and feels a little guilty eavesdropping on their usually stand-offish and blunt comrade like this. But he was completely wrapped up in the words seeming dripping with sincerity, and it makes him think about home and his mother's home-cooking and his little sister who loved to jump into his arms whenever he came home from the Garrison. 

" _And I'll throw it all away_

_But watch you fall down._

_You are the earth that I will stand upon._

_You are the one that I was missing."_

"I had no idea he could sing like that. I mean, I knew he was a man of few words, but I never knew his words could sound, so, not aggressive, you know?" Hunk whispers, turning to Lance, and is startled by the almost pained expression his friend is wearing. He looks like someone had just pissed in his cereal before spilling it over him. And as silly as the explanation sounded, Hunk knew it was never a good face for Lance to wear. "Lance?"

"I gotta go," he said hurriedly before pushing off the wall and striding past his friend, shoving his hands violently in his pockets to keep Hunk from seeing how much they were shaking. 

"Lance!" Hunk called to his back, and realized his mistake a fraction too late. The chords hit an awkward note and cut off, and Hunk decided his best course of action was to play it off like he'd been looking for the blue paladin. He turned and opened the door, trying to sound casual as he poked his head in and spotted Keith, who was sitting near the railing at the edge of the observatory, effectively hiding whatever he'd been playing behind him. "H-Hey, Keith! You seen Lance around? I can't find him anywhere."

Keith hesitated a second too long before replying, still a little caught off guard with the other's sudden appearance, "Nope. Not since dinner."

"Oh, well, thanks anyways!" Hunk quickly ducked out the door again, turning to go back the way Lance had gone, calling out his name once more as an effective measure to solidify his alibi with Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used/referenced:
> 
> This - Ed Sheeran


	3. High Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro allows Lance to show him Keith's hidden talents. Pidge joins for the ride.

 

The next time Keith gets caught, Shiro hears it first during one of the few times he and Lance end up eating by themselves. It's a voice that starts the same time as the first chord, and it's so quiet that Shiro thinks he's hearing things. At least, until he notices that Lance has picked up on it too and is looking towards the door.

"I'm guessing you hear that, too?" Shiro asks, prosthetic hand still wrapped loosely over a spoon with Hunk's latest creation, which tastes a surprising amount like chicken noodle soup if you ignore the peanut-butter texture and the fact that it was neon blue.

Lance nods, "It's Keith."

Shiro looks at him with a confused and startled look, brows pinching together as he asks "How do you know that?"

"He like," Lance shrugs and turns back to his own bowl of food, "got his hands on some weird alien acoustic guitar and practices in the observatory. I don't think he knows the sound carries."

"I didn't even know he could play the guitar," Shiro commented quietly, popping another spoonful of goop into his mouth, and really had to swallow past the weird texture-taste combo.

Lance blinked at him. So Lance knew something about Keith that Shiro didn't. It gave him an inappropriate swell to his ego but he swallowed it down and stood, leaving his half-full plate on the table with a smirk on his face. "C'mon, let's go listen."

Shiro's brows raised in surprise before he composed himself into what everyone called 'dad mode', not that they ever mentioned this to Shiro. But that was because he would mainly prove their point by giving them all a lecture about it. "Lance, you can't eavesdrop. That's an invasion of his privacy."

"If he's playing where people can hear it, it's not eavesdropping." Then Lance gave him that mischievous grin Shiro knew all too well. "Besides, aren't you even a  _little_ curious about how good he is, since, you know, you didn't know he could do it." That was almost too low of a blow, and Lance knew better than anyone that trying to get a rise out of Shiro was like asking Coran if he needed help with something: It could go both very well and very bad. Thankfully, Lance was lucky this time, as Shiro studied him with a look that meant he wasn't  _entirely_ against it. His smirk peeled into a full-fledged grin when Shiro finally sighed in defeat and stood up, "Fine, but  _only_ this one time, Lance. I mean it"

Lance gave a playful solute and whistled "Yes, sir!" before practically jogging out of the room. Shiro may have been taller than him by a solid few inches but the other was all legs, and Shiro had to stride to keep up with him. Lance was babbling the entire walk there, and Shiro thought he looked like a kid who'd been told he could go to the candy store on the way home. "He  _always_ practices in the observatory for some reason. And I mean, it's a nice, quiet place to be, but like? There are probably way better, more private places to do this kind of thing. You know, since he obviously doesn't want us to know he does it."

"There's probably a reason behind that, knowing Keith," Shiro comments, waving his human hand with the suggestion. "He is a pretty private person, after all."

"Well yeah, but still. Literally anyone could walk in on him in the observatory. Maybe he-" Lance stopped when he heard a noise to his right, and Pidge appeared seemingly out of thin air from a side hallway, making Lance jump and Shiro raise his brows at the smallest member of their team. " _Hijo de puta,_ Pidge! Warn a guy next time."

"Lance, language!" Shiro chided and Lance gave him a pout.

Lance gave him a look of betrayal. "You don't even know what I said!"

Shiro narrowed his eyes, but there wasn't any bite to him. "I've been around you enough to know that it is not a civil phrase. So my statement still stands."

"Lovely to see you two getting along so well," Pidge comments from the side, resting a hand on their side, the other weighted down with a small bag whose strap was curled in delicate fingers.

Lance gave a roll of his eyes, "No time for your snide comments now, Pidge. We're on a mission."

Pidge gave him a bored look, eyebrow raising in disbelief that whatever Lance was doing could be considered a 'mission'. "And exactly what would that be?"

Lance gave this coy smirk as he leaned down to their level, cocking a brow, "Well, wouldn't you like to know."

Pidge's expression turned sour, and they partly turned their face away before replying. "Well, if it has anything to do with that voice down the hall, that's where I was already headed."

"Where did you hear it from?" Shiro asked as Lance righted himself with a huff.

"What! No way, no you- no no no no, _nuh uh_ , you're not invited to the 'eavesdrop on Keith' party!" Lance sputtered out throwing his hands anywhere between the air and his hips, his face almost childishly defensive.

Pidge's eyebrows shot up and their mouth opened a bit in surprise as they turned their head down the hallways towards the noise, "That's  _Keith_?"

"Yeah, so scurry along, little lab rat," Lance huffed, crossing his arms, "we don't want him knowing we're listening and any more than two is dangerous."

Pidge only rolled their eyes and slipped past Lance, ignoring his squawk of protest when they nudged him in the ribs for god measure, "I've been recording that voice for days. I had no idea that was Keith! I'm not missing a chance at a clearer recording."

Shiro was after them in a heartbeat, "Pidge, you  _what?_ That's an invasion of his privacy!"

"I didn't know it was him, Shiro! I thought it was some weird frequency that had got caught in the ship's system."

"Wait, Pidge, you have to give me a copy of those recordings!" Lance called out after them, jogging to catch up. For such a little person, Pidge sure could move fast.

Pidge waved a hand dismissively, "What, so you can have more fuel for your bromance with him? Please."

Lance felt heat sear across the back of his neck and scowled, "Excuse you, it's a  _rivalry,_ not a broma-" He was cut off by Pidge physically shoving their hand over his mouth. They were close to the observatory now and the soft pickings of strings were filtering from the door. This wasn't surprising, but what was surprising was the fact that the door was open. It had never been open when Lance had come here the other two times. He immediately pushed Pidge's hand off and shut up, creeping closer to the door but not as close as he usually did. Shiro was standing behind him and Pidge had ducked to the edge of the door, already pulling out a few small handheld devices, slipping one as close to the doorway as they dared.

They all stayed dead quiet for a moment, eagerly listening to the slim pickings of notes they were offered. It just seemed like absent picking, and Lance felt a weight drop into his stomach that they may have missed him actually playing with all their banter earlier. But then there was a strong chord, just a few decibels louder than the ones they'd been listening to, and a voice accompanying it with that familiar, deep breathlessness that squeezed Lance's heart and made his stomach do somersaults. 

" _Broken bottles in the hotel lobby. Seems to me like I'm just scared of feeling it again,"_ Keith sang, and there was a more evident emptiness to his voice than the other times. Like he was trying to hide something in himself so that it didn't come out in the words. " _I know it's just crazy to believe in silly things, but it's not that easy_."

"We shouldn't be listening to this," Shiro murmurs, but Lance can tell he isn't moving anytime soon.

"No one's making you stay, Shiro," Lance whispers back, but something in his voice lacks the taunting it usually holds. He just sounds a little sad, and it makes Shiro look down at his back with a little concern. But before he can say anything, Keith's singing the next stanza with a steadiness to his voice that wasn't there in the first few lines. It washes through the air like gentle waves lapping on the shore, and Shiro feels almost pained that he's never known this side of Keith. That this side of him could even exist outside of their friendship.

" _I remember it now, it takes me back to when this all first started. But I've only got myself to blame for it, and I accept it now."_ He takes a breath that's seemingly just loud enough to break through the strings, " _I_ _t's time to let it go, go out and start again."_ He sighs out the last line, and it sounds almost wistful in a way that Keith has never shown outside his stoic and composed exterior, " _But it's not that easy."_ _  
_

Lance feels like this one may actually be too private to listen in to, but Shiro hasn't moves and Pidge is still recording, so maybe he should stay. Even if it does feel like his lungs are caving in and his heart is falling into itself. 

He makes it to the second chorus before he has to push himself off the wall and turn around, walking down it with an almost suffocating silence around him so that Shiro and Pidge can only watch from where they're rooted to the ground, giving each other a knowing look.

"I don't approve of recording Keith like this, but," Shiro starts when he kneels down next to Pidge, his voice soft and barely above a whisper. "If you want to give a few to Lance. I think I can turn a blind eye."

Pidge gives him a coy smirk, "Why Shiro, a blind eye to what? I'm not doing anything."

Shiro gives a quiet chuckle and gives their head a light ruffle as he stands and turns back to the hallways, legs bringing him in the same direction as Lance. He finds him back in the dining room, slouched over his previously abandoned bowl of goo and absently picking at it. Shiro sighs quietly to himself when he pauses in the doorway before pushing through and putting a small smile on his face. 

"Something on you mind?" He asks with a small pat to the other's shoulder as he passes to take up his own seat across from the other where his bowl still sat.

Lance looks up with a sad look that's washed over with his usual smirk, but Shiro knows his heart's not really in it. "Oh, yeah, I'm thinking of all the ways I can blackmail Keith with this." He's hoping to push the right button on Shiro to get a lecture instead of pry, really anything but talk about Keith singing again.

Now Lance wasn't so lucky, because Shiro sighed and gave him "Well, the look on your face certainly doesn't scream 'rivalry blackmail'. So what's the real reason?" 

Lance's smirk flinches and he leans over the table with a spoonful of goo waving around as he spoke, "Nah man, I'm serious! I could totally get him to polish Blue for me with this. And who  _knows_ what Pidge has got on him with their recordings."

"Lance," Shiro starts after swallowing another mouthful of goo and suppressing a shiver. Seriously, the texture and flavor combination was even making it hard to eat for him. "Come on, not with me."

Lance's smile does diminish now, falling to something small and a little sad as he dips his spoon into his goo, "I don't know what you want me to say, Shiro."

"Talk to him," the elder states, getting the other to look up at him. He offers a kind smile, one that shows sincerity in his eyes. "It doesn't have to be right away, but you should."

"Like he'd even want to hear something like that come from me," Lance says with a roll of his eyes but his words are tinged with a bit of bitterness, a kind of salt that doesn't really suit him. He takes another bite of his goo.

Shiro shrugs with the kind of look on his face like he knows more than he's saying, "I've known Keith for a long time. I guarantee you he's full of surprises." Lance mumbles something unintelligible and they both go back to eating with a solid silence between them, where Shiro finishes first and heads to the kitchen to discard his bowl. He pauses at the doorway and turns back to Lance, "Just think about it."

Then he's gone and Lance is left poking at the small pile of neon blue goop, the sour taste in his mouth from something else entirely now. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used:referenced
> 
> High Hopes - Kodaline


	4. Run To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets to hear Keith sing personally after getting fatally wounded.

The next time Lance hears Keith sing ins't under the best circumstance.

Naturally the day had started like any other. Get up, have breakfast with everyone, pick a fight with Keith, flirt with Allura, get attacked by a small fleet of Galra ships. The usual. Alright well, maybe that last one wasn't part of their usual routine.

They had landed on another planet named Winoc. It was smaller than the others, but the only one with a breathable atmosphere. The life forms were barely sentient, and Allura quickly won them over with miscellaneous trinkets from the ship and Coran's cooking, which was a surprise to everyone. Lance saw Keith hovering on the edge of the gathering, as per usual, and strode over to him with that cocky grin and egotistical attitude he always carried with him.

"Hey there, mullet-man, come here often?" He cooed, throwing an arm around Keith's shoulder. He was met with a disgruntled snort and a stinky side-eye.

"Do you always have to flirt with me when there are no pretty girl aliens around?" The dark-haired boy said, his lips twisted in that adorable pout even as his dark eyebrows scrunched over darker eyes. Lance thought it was pretty cute, so he said so just to get a bit of a rise out of him, knowing his constant state of emotional constipation would help.

"Aw, babe, you know, you're so cute when you act all mad about it like that," he laughed when the other sighed, and for once, he didn't shove Lance's arm off as he usually did. The brunet tried not to think too much about it, and instead offered Keith the cup he had in his free hand. "It's this planet's version of- you know, I'm not sure," he said to the questioning brow that was raised at it. "I think Hunk said it tasted like apple juice." Keith paused for a moment before reaching to take the cup. His fingers just barely grazed Lance's in the motion, but even through his armor's gloves, Lance felt the electricity tingle across his skin. Alright, that was a little weird.

Keith gave the drink a sniff and wrinkled his nose, "It smells like root beer." 

Lance gave an awkward snort-laugh at that, shoulders giving a sharp jerk with the motion, "Brilliant observation, Sherlock."

"Shut up, Wattson," Keith shot back before taking a sip.

Lance's face lit up at the reply, "Woah, woah woah woah,  _wait_ , hold the phone! You, the reigning champion in sad, deprived childhoods, actually know what _Sherlock Holmes_ is?"

Keith rolled his eyes and swallowed before replying, "Of course I know _Sherlock Holmes_. Classic series set during the late-Victorian era about a high-functioning sociopath, who claims to be a consulting detective, and his salty, veteran war-doctor. Who  _doesn't_ know _Sherlock Holmes_?" He wrinkled his nose as he tilted his cup away and blinked at its contents. "Also, this drink taste like maple syrup, not apply juice, you liar."

Lance's face was practically lighting up with excitement and he pulled Keith in closer and ruffled his hair, "Keith, you broody hot-topic junkie!"

"Excuse me?" Keith squawked and struggled to get out of Lance's affectionate hold, spilling half the drink over his hand.

Lance was still grinning when he released his hold a bit, Keith slithering out of it with an annoyed huff, a very light dusting of color over his pale cheeks. as he tried to shake the liquid off of his fingers. "You should have told me you liked Sherlock! We could have been bonding over their many hilarious and arduous adventures" 

"Do you even know what 'arduous' means?" Keith asks with a playful snort.

But before their banter could go any further, there was a call from Allura, who was was alerted by the ship of Galra ships entering Winoc's atmosphere. She called everyone back to the ship and Lance gave Keith's shoulder a friendly tap with the back of his hand, "Dude, we gotta talk about this when we get back. Promise me!"

Keith only called out a "sure, whatever" as they sprinted back to the castle.

Lance is in his lion, primed and ready to go when Shiro gave the command to launch. He called out a war cry into the comms as they shot into the atmosphere.

"There he goes again," Pidge grumbled, but Lance could feel over the bond that they weren't all that annoyed by him.

Hunk laughed, "Too bad we had to ditch the party so early. I was really getting hooked on that apple juice drink they had."

"Tasted more like maple syrup to me," Keith comments. "Or like, really, really thick apple cider."

"Hm, yeah I could see how you'd get that," Hunk relays. And then conversation stops and they're facing the fleet. There's three large battle ships, surrounded by about three dozen battle drones each. They dive into the fray and it's like someone turned up the notch on the party down below. There's flashing lights and blood roaring in his ears in time with his lion, and Lance feels alive. He's cruising through ships and shooting down entire squads, getting so wrapped up in the fray that he doesn't notice he's getting separated from the group until Hunk calls out his name.

"Lance!" Came his nervous voice of his best friend, "you're getting kinda far away, man."

" _Relax_ , Hunk!" Lance calls back, taking down another two ships. "I've totally got this under control."

"I'm sure you do," Shiro this time, and he's got his leader-voice on, "But we should stick together. It makes it easier to cover each other."

"Roger that, Shiro," Lance sighs. But before he can start making his way towards where the others are still flying around attacking one of the battle ships, he finds himself closed off. As in there's a literal wall of battle drones on all sides, closing him in that he hadn't noticed was there in all his rushing around. "What the-? Shit!"

"Lance?" Pidge calls, turning their lion to him, "What! When did-? Guys!"

The rest of them turn around now to see the Blue Lion rapidly trying to shoot a hole through the barricade, but it's just replaced by more drones that are pouring out of the battle ships. Lance is actually trapped.

Keith shouts his name, but Lance is suddenly stricken with a moment of panic as his attacks do nothing to thin out the barricade around him, "Come on, come on! give me a hole already!"

"Lance, get out of there, now!" Shiro shouts over the comms, and Lance barely hears him over the blood roaring in his ears.

"The fuck you think I'm trying to do, Shiro?" And normally he'd get a sharp warning except everyone can hear the panic in his voice. His sensors start flashing warnings at him and he turns blue to see the ion canon of the closest ship trained on him and charged to fire. "Son of a bitch-!" He goes for his last line of defense, and throws up Blue's shield right before the canon fires.

The last thing Lance remembers hearing is everyone shouting his name and then his safety harness malfunctions and he's thrown from his chair, head slamming viciously against the dashboard as his body is thrown forward. He hears something crack loudly and then everything goes dark and silent.

Lance doesn't have any memories of what happened next, but he does recall someone insistently saying his name and pulling his helmet off. There's the touch of warm fingers on his cheek and swiping through his bangs, reaching down to grab his wrist and holding there for a few moments. His name again, and it's becoming clearer. His head is throbbing and his ribs ache with a fire in every breath, but he manages to suck in enough of a air that his vision swims when he forces his eyes to open. He sees something red and black hovering over him, and he blinks a bit before Keith comes into semi-focus. His brow is deeply furrowed and pinched with- is that concern? 

"Lance? Lance!" Keith says, almost desperate. "Are you with me?"

"Ten four, good buddy," the brunet grits out, managing to bring out a little bit of a smirk, and the other sighs in what can only be relief. At least, until Lance gives a wet cough, then his look is back to concern and Lance can taste blood on his tongue. In fact, that's the only thing he can taste on his tongue. He's finally conscious enough to realize that he's being semi-cradled in Keith's arms and naturally has to say something about it. "What, are you trying to recreate our little bonding moment?"

"You don't even remember that," Keith mutters, but give him a little smile.

"Yeah, must of had something to do with almost becoming beef stroganoff all over the walls," Lance rebuttals weakly, not having enough energy to laugh at his own humor. "So I probably won't remember this either."

"Yeah, well, if you're still making crappy jokes like that, then you'll be fine this time, too." 

"You wound me, Keith." 

"Pretty sure that was the ion canon."

"Wow, alright, tell me how you really feel," Lance says with a sharp laugh before pain splinters over his chest and it's like someone lit the inside of his left lung on fire. All of a sudden his back is arching and he's gasping for breath but he can't suck in. His mouth keeps opening and closing but no air is passing through it and Keith is shouting his name over and over again. It's only a second before he realizes that Lance isn't breathing anymore and is trying to take in air to no avail. So he lays the blue paladin down and focuses on basic CPR from his med training at the Garrison, sucks in a breath, and presses his lips to Lance's gaping mouth and exhales, hard. Lance feels his lungs swell enough that when Keith pulls back, he can suck in air for himself and is gasping loudly, albeit his breaths are shallow and fast.

"Lance! Come on, stay with me man. Keep breathing."

If Lance had enough breath for a snarky reply, he would have given it, but all he could do was try to keep his eyes open and ignore the tears of pain that were streaming down his cheeks. He gave the other paladin a nod but that wasn't enough to wash the fear from his face. 

"Alright, I've gotta bring you on Red so we can get you to the ship. You have to stay awake, though. Can you do that?" Keith is talking slowly, or maybe Lance is just having a hard time processing the words. His mind feels like it's swimming through mud, the room doing slurry laps around his head.

"Copy that Houston, we have lift off," he manages to say hoarsely as Keith picks him up, unable to find the strength to wrap his arms around the other's neck. He lays there like a soggy twizzler, and he would have laughed at his own internal metaphor if he wasn't currently trying to focus on not suffocating with what he presumed was a collapsed lung.

"Lance? Are you still with me?" Keith sounded faraway, but the concern overlaying the controlled panic was still there. He managed to make a noise of assent but if you asked him later, Lance wouldn't be able to recall if he actually had. "We're almost to Red, alright? Just stay with me."

"Keith," Lance finally says when they're on the smaller lion, but it's more of a broken whisper than anything. Keith has laid him down near the pilot's chair and if Lance could actually feel his body, he'd probably think it was cold. Or maybe that was his body. He wasn't sure anymore. "'m scared."

He could feel Keith's grip on his shoulders tighten as he hesitated, hearing Lance admit his fear was scary in and of itself. The dark-haired boy swallowed thickly, and reached up to wipe away the hair that was sticking to the blood still oozing from above the brunet's hairline, earning him a soft noise of could be content, or pain. But he was going to go with content. 

"I know. But you'll be alright. I promise." Keith cursed the fact that his own voice waver, and he cursed the way his heart broke when Lance gave him those too-tired eyes and that dorky smirk with bloodied lips.

"You promised to talk about Sherlock with me, too. Don't forget..."

"Yeah," Keith said, laying Lance down the rest of the way. "I won't."

"Even if I forget because of this... garbage. Don't... don't forget, okay?"

"Okay, Lance," Keith replied, his voice quieter. "Just stay awake till we get you to the castle, alright? Coran already has a pod ready."

"Mm, he's good... like that..." 

Keith jumps into the pilot's chair and he's zooming at full speed from the crater in which Blue had made when she hit the groun, the battle already decided in their favor as the others attacked the other battle ships mercilessly while Keith got Lance out. 

"Keith..." He heard from behind him, and he turned back just enough to see the other out of the corner of his eye. Lance's skin was paler than usual, and there were a few streaks of blood dribbling from his mouth that could only mean internal bleeding. And from the sound of his breathing, it definitely sounded like either his diaphragm was damaged or a lung had collapsed. Maybe both. Keith pressed Red to go faster. "You sing nice..."

Keith could feel his own lungs collapsing as he hissed out a breath, trying to do everything in his power to keep from jumping out of the seat and holding Lance to him as close as possible. "I sing as well as anyone, really."

"C'n I make a request?" Lance whispered, but it sounded strained, like he was trying to be louder but couldn't actually make it so.

Keith swallowed a hard lump in his throat, but it didn't go away, "Sure man, whatever you want."

"Surprise me," Lance said with just the twitch of a smirk and Keith felt like someone had shot him in the chest point-blank.

"You got it." He muted his side of the comms so he could still hear everyone, but everything on his end was silent. He took a breath, than another, and then he was humming out the first few words. He thanked that his voice didn't crack, because if it did, so would he.

" _A light in the room. It was you who was standing there. Tried, it was true. As your glance met my stare._ "

Lance gave a very soft hum, mumbling to himself, "Mm, Pentatonix. Good group." 

" _But your heart drifted off, like the land split by sea._ " They were almost there, almost at the castle, he urged Red on ever faster as he tried to keep himself calm enough to breath out the words steadily. "I tried to go, to follow, to kneel down at your feet."

"Always thought you sang pretty." Lance said dreamily, and Keith cast another glance over his shoulder. Lance's eyes weren't open anymore, his body limp on the floor but a small, content smile on his blood-smeared lips. "Nice to hear... one last time..."

"Lance, you're gunna be fine, just stay awake okay? Keep listening to me."

Keith kept singing, even as he nearly crash-landed his lion into the castle and scrambled to pick up Lance's broken body. The other was so still, his breaths so shallow that Keith would have thought he was dead if not for the light flutter of eyelashes when he was cradled against Keith's body. "Mm, bridal carry. How romantic..." 

"Don't get used to it." Keith said quietly, quickly following Coran to the med bay where a prepped pod sat ready for it's predestined injured occupant. "You'll be walking again soon enough."

"Yeah," Lance said as Keith stood him up in the pod with the help of Coran. The last thing he said was, "Don't forget, you promised."

Keith nodded and gave him one last brush of the bangs before he said "Promise" and stepped back.

\---

Lance was unaware of how much time had passed, the last thing he'd known was the pod sealing itself and darkness tinted with a pulsing, light-blue energy. Now he was opening his eyes and swaying forward, barely catching himself on the side of the pod before stumbling out. Suddenly there were steadying hands on his shoulders, and he blinked up to see the very concerned and relieved face of Keith.

He blinked again and ignored the light flutter of his stomach, giving the other a flirty smirk, "Hey there gorgeous, your shirt seems to be on the floor. No, wait, that's tonight." He would have said that's the fastest time he's been dropped to the floor, but he wasn't actually keeping track as he rolled down the steps and landed on his ass with a yelp. "Dude,  _eso duele!_  I just got out of the pod, don't go getting me more injured."

"I think you're plenty fine, you big baby," the other commented dryly, and Lance looked over his shoulder at him. He was standing there with his arms crossed, tight and stiff. His chin tucked and his eyes pointedly looking away with a deep set furrow of his brow. Even though his eyes were shadowed, Lance could see the bags under them as clear as day.

"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist," he tried to respond cheerfully, moving to push himself up and finding his knees more wobbly than expected. There was a supportive hand on his elbow, an arm wrapped almost protectively around his waist as he straightened himself. He could feel the warmth of Keith's fingers through the white spandex suit he always woke up in, and he gave a quiet sigh. Keith gave him a look and Lance just shook his head at his unspoken question. "You're warm. It's nice."

"Yeah, well, you've been in a coma for three days, so I'm not surprised you're cold," Keith muttered, looking away again as red flecked his cheeks.

Lance looked over at him, eyes widening, "Have I really been out for three days?"

"Considering you had a concussion, multiple broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a collapsed lung - not to mention a ridiculous amount of first degree burns and lacerations - yeah. Three days sounds about right." Keith grunted as he helped Lance sit down again, pulling out a blanket that had been set aside for him next to his pod and wrapping it around his shoulders. Lance gripped at them, finding a little more strength in his fingers now and he kneaded the fabric as Keith sat down next to him. "So how much do you remember?"

"Um, it's kinda foggy," Lance screwed his brows as he tried to remember, focusing on the images resurfacing in his mind. "We were fighting the Galra, I got separated-"

"Like an idiot," Keith interjected, and Lance rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Then Blue got hit and my safety harness malfunctioned so I got flung from my seat. Got knocked out. Woke up to you and you brought me to Red, I think..." He blinked, furrowing his eyebrows further. He felt like he was forgetting something important. Like, really important, that he really shouldn't be forgetting this time. Keith was sitting there quietly next to him, waiting to see if he really would remember. "There was... a voice. Singing? It was nice... It was-" He blinked as he finally remembered, turning to look at Keith, who had to force himself not to turn away this time. They held each other's gaze for a while before Lance's face broke into a smirk. "Aw, you sang to me while I was dying! Keithy baby, how sweet!"

At that, Keith abruptly stood up and strode off towards the call hub with a sharp, "Yup. You're fine. I'm calling the others."

Lance was laughing even as Keith made an announcement over the ship's speakers that Lance was awake. And when they swarmed him, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Keith hung at the back of the pack, leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed, staring at a spot on the floor as if he could melt a hole through it with just his angered gaze. Shiro gave the dark-haired boy a look but he shrugged him off. Not that Shiro was having any of it. After he told Lance they'd managed to defeat the rest of the Galra ships and he and Allura had taken turns giving him brutal lectures, Shiro called over Keith to take Lance to get food and go to bed, and suggested everyone else go to sleep since they'd eaten already.

"Why do I have to take him?" Keith muttered, and Shiro sent him an overly-kind smile that Keith knew was a bad sign.

"Because you haven't eaten today _either_ , Keith," the elder said, loud enough for Lance to hear, whose eyes widened when he looked at the slightly shorter boy. "You have to replenish all the energy you used watching Lance for the past three days  _straight_." Then he gave a quick pat to Lance with a serious but gentle "Good to have you back, Lance" and then he was striding out the room.

"Stupid, back-stabbing, traitorous, conniving..." Keith was muttering obscenities towards Shiro under his breath even before he left the room, stomping over to Lance with a growl. "Can you walk?"

"I don't know, did you really watch over me for all three days I was in there?" Lance gave the other a wide grin and Keith clicked his tongue with a sharp denial. Lance laughed and took a few steps forward, but it was obvious how drained he was and was dragging his feet in no time. Keith sighed, his anger diminishing as he moved forward and wrapped an arm around the other boy's waist, hooking Lance's arm over his shoulder. "What, no bridal carry this time?"

"Oh so you remember that," the dark-haired boy grumbled, giving the other a slanted look and Lance just laughed.

"Yeah, I remember a lot surprisingly," Lance sounded as tired as he felt and if it wasn't for the red paladin's secure hold on him, he probably wouldn't have made it far past the door. "Since I wasn't, you know, in a coma before I got in the cryopod this time."

Keith just grunted in response, and the rest of the walk to the dining hall was made in silence. He helped Lance into his seat and moved to the kitchen, waving off the other's curious look. He returned with two plates of a pastel pink and purple goo that looked like the texture of a Trix Yogurt cup. It made Lance get another twinge of homesickness, but he ignored it as he took the spoon offered to him in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used/referenced :
> 
> Run To you - Pentatonix


	5. (Kiss Me Like) We're Falling In Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance openly confronts Keith about his not-so-hidden-anymore talents. Keith has no quarrels with that.

The next time Lance overhears Keith playing, it's not in the observatory, but in his own room with the door open.

He had taken two steps out his door when he heard the sound, close and strong and soft and faraway, all at the same time. It pulled at Lance's chest and he ambles mindlessly towards it, rounding the curvature in the hall to the other side where Keith's room was located. The door was open and the light was on, the tip of a shadow poking out that could have been Keith's foot or maybe his shoulder as he sat in his room. Lance crept forward and snuck a glance inside. 

Keith was sitting on the floor, back to the door but turned enough that Lance could se the side of his face and the concentrated look making frown lines all over his face, with his weird instrument in his lap and a bunch of papers scattered around him. Some were crumpled and tossed to the side, a select few spared with the Altean version of pencil marks scribbled over them. Keith was currently scribbling down something on whatever was in front of him; probably one of those pieces of paper. He put the utensil between his teeth, and moved his hands back up to the instrument. He strummed a few chords, humming quietly to himself. His eyes closed as he picked notes and threaded chords together, and Lance found himself moving to lean against the doorway with his head leaned against the metal surface, eyes fluttering closed as he listened.

He heard what sounded like the other shifting and the stutter of notes followed by residual silence. Lance could feel Keith's gaze on him, but kept his eyes shut, small smile still smoking over his lips softly. The silence seemed to stretch for another moment before the other put something down - probably the make-shift pen in-between his teeth - and move to place his fingers over the strings.

He hears a whispered "One, two, three, four..." and then the chords are being strummed, effortless and soft, a kind of confidence to each strum that Lance only ever heard at home and he felt a little sad. But also happy that Keith was doing this consciously with Lance in the room, and the brunet practically melts when the dark-haired boy started singing, sighing softly through his teeth.

" _Settle down with me,_ " Keith hums, and the notes that pair with it are perfectly timed, matching his voice in a way Lance can only describe as beautiful. " _Cover me up, cuddle me in. Lie down with me and hold me in your arms._ " Lance honestly wants to dissolve into a pile of steaming goo with the little ball of heat churning pleasantly in his gut, making his stomach fizzle with bubbles and feel fluttery and light. His smile stretched a little bit as Keith continued playing, holding himself up if only by locking his knees.

" _And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck,_ " Keith continues, that familiar breathlessness starting to tinge his words, giving them a comforting ring to Lance's ear that reminds him of being wrapped in a warm scarf with a mug of hot chocolate to defrost frigid fingers. " _I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't see me yet. And with a feeling I won't forget,_ " Keith pauses for a quick breath, and it seems to raise the mood for the next words to come crashing down on Lance like a wave washing ashore and running over his bare toes as he stood on the edge of the beach. "... _I'm in love now."_

"I see you like Ed Sheeran," Lance interjected softly, quietly, so Keith could ignore him and keep going if he wanted. But he didn't; he lets the last note ring out and echo through the room. "Never really took you for the romantic type," he added with a chuckle.

He pushes his eyes open in time to see Keith turn back to him, blinking at him with a mix of apprehension over hesitant warmth, the rebuttal on the tip of his tongue bit back when he sees how fondly Lance is actually looking at him. He nibbles on the inside of his cheek for a moment, their gazes never shifted from each other, before Keith finally turns around again, wrapping himself expertly over the instrument. "Just sits with me right. I liked all his songs that weren't constantly over-played on the radio."

Lance nods, not that the other can see it, and waits a minute before pushing himself from the wall and closing the yard and a half to where the other is sitting. He picks his way through the debris carefully, and gently makes a small clear spot next to Keith for himself to settle down in. The other boy doesn't stop him, nor does he move away when their shoulders brush, and he strums another set of chords absently. Lance looks around and realizes that all the papers are covered in a slew of words and music notes, but leaves them on the floor out of respect for the other. He closes his eyes, shifting to lean his forehead on Keith's shoulder as he keeps strumming. Keith is humming the words he'd already sung, murmuring them to himself as he tried to get back to where he'd been interrupted.

Lance listened to him quietly, smiling into his shoulder as the music wrapped around him like a blanket fresh out of the dryer, leaving him with a feeling of safety and comfort. Keith finally reached his place from before, but let the words flow out softer this time, volume lower and a little more intimate now that his audience was so open and close to him. It was a little unnerving, but also satisfying, giving him a sense of completeness as something clicked into place.

" _Kiss me like you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved,_ " The dark-haired boy feels his skin tingle as the brunet readjust his position, shifting a little closer so he's a bit more comfortable and not so awkwardly leaning over.

If anyone were to ask, Lance would deny being here, in this moment. Would deny the way he leaned into Keith gently. Would deny how he turned so his face was hidden in the other's juncture where his neck met his shoulder. Would _absolutely_ deny the tiny, tender, and chaste kiss he placed there, causing the other boy to shiver. But right now, he was there, and he was warm, caramel skin glazed with a decorative strawberry powder that stained his cheeks and the tips of his ears. And if he'd looked up, he would see the same color on the back of Keith's neck, a soft cherry over skin like creamy vanilla frosting.

And Keith kept strumming, leaning into each touch, chest constricted and inflated with a feeling that made him want to smile and cry and shout into the atmosphere. But he sat there, softly playing, enjoying the closeness of the other, breathing out words he may only ever be able to get out through song.

" _This feels like fallin' in love, fallin' in love, fallin' in love..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used/referenced :
> 
> Kiss Me - Ed Sheeran


End file.
